Tijuana's drug war focuses on police

[tombogan03884]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091221/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_drug_war_police_cleanup_abridged

RED BOLD ARE MY COMMENTS, MORE AT LINK

TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — Behind every crime is a corrupt cop. (Not a gun from America )

That's Public Safety Chief Julian Leyzaola's mantra as he storms Tijuana with its most aggressive police reform to date, a mix of counterterrorism and community policing. If it works, it could be a model for other hotspots and a huge breakthrough in a drug war in Mexico that has taken more than 14,000 lives in the last three years.

But the job is as monumental as turning around Al Capone's Chicago.  ( Chicago never WAS turned around ) Cops in this border city and many others nationwide now serve as the eyes and ears of drug lords. And those who fight the cartels often end up dead.

The Associated Press followed Leyzaola for eight months as he rallied troops, consoled officers' widows and appealed to jaded residents for support. The AP joined commanders and officers on patrol, at target practice and in training classes, tracking firsthand Leyzaola's intended reforms.

Leyzaola, 49, joined Tijuana police in 2007, after 25 years in the army and stints running Baja California's state prisons and police. A year ago, he became head of the largest police force in Baja, where 90 percent of officers surveyed last year failed federal security checks.

"Listen well," the retired military officer says with his trademark certitude. "No delinquent can survive without help from the authorities. If you do not clean up the police, you will never get rid of drug trafficking."

The march to recapture the city starts in early 2009 and expands to a new district every three months. The plan is to end in 2011 in the east, the city's most violent section, where Teodoro "El Teo" Garcia Simental wages a vicious campaign to take over Tijuana's drug trade.

Leyzaola draws his strategy from many sources, including French counterterrorism operations in Algeria in the 1950s and Colombia's war against its cartels in the '90s. ( Both used torture and Death Squads ) He has $7 million in federal funding this year.

The plan for each district: Make a slew of arrests. Then replace beat cops with officers who pass intensive background checks and put in former military officers as commanders. They patrol small areas in new pickup trucks and are responsible for whatever happens in their area.

First up is downtown Tijuana.

[bulldog75]

Wow. People complain about the police and crime rates here. We were banned from going south of the border by our chain of command. If you got caught in Mexico the military would punish you.

[tombogan03884]

No kidding ? Wow, that must be relatively new.

[TAB]

you could not pay me to goto TJ, mexico as a whole for that matter. 

besides if I want to experance mexico, I just have to goto part of LA.   

[bulldog75]

Last time I was at Ft. Bliss 6 soldiers were detained in Juarez jail and their unit deployed without them. They are facing a court martial when they get back. They were robbing troops all the time (Juarez police). Either you give them money or go to jail.

[Sponsor]

[tombogan03884]

They been doing THAT since we bought Louisiana.

[Rastus]

They been doing THAT since we bought Louisiana.

Depends on what Parish you are in....NOT!

[JC5123]

I was watching something yesterday on Nat. Geo. About the drug cartels in Mexico. (Sick as a dog so yesterday was tv day) I nearly burst a blood vessel when they started showing all the guns that they had confiscated! First they claim that they all came from the U.S. But as they start showing these weapons I'm screaming at the TV that you can't just walk into a shop and buy this stuff! They were showing FULL AUTO M60, M16 with an M203 grenade launcher. .50 M2. I mean, I don't know about you guys, but I can't just walk into my local gun shop and buy weapons like that.

Sorry for the drift.

[tombogan03884]

Depends on what Parish you are in....NOT!

Lewis and Clark spent some time dodging Spanish troops who were "Enforcing their Border". IIRC Zebulon Pike was actually arrested during his trip that found the mountain named after him.

[Hank Ellis]

I was in Cozumel in October for some diving R&R. Had a few beers at the dive shop bar with the owner. The owner is a Canadian who has been there for over 20 years and has seen Mexico from the inside and knows it well. Noticed about every 15 minutes either the municipal police, state police, or federal police would go by. Asked the owner, "Is it me or am I seeing an increased police presence?" Yes. Big crackdown on the drug trade from the federal level. Anybody that used to do drugs has stopped for fear of getting arrested. In Mexico the police at any level can stop you at any time for no reason and search your car. If they find anything you're going to jail.

Hmmm.

Another observation. Sunday went to the town square to get a few bucks out of the ATM. Noticed a municipal cop at each entrance of both banks. Never seen that before.

Hmmm.